章节正文
playing a dangerous game."
"Dear me!" said the ex-deputy. "And why?"
The two men moved away.
Daubrecq had not uttered a word and stood motionless, as though rooted
to the ground.
The old gentleman went up to him and whispered:
"I say, Daubrecq, wake up, old chap... It's the chloroform, I expect... "
Daubrecq clenched his fists and gave a muttered growl.
"Ah, I see you know me!" said the old gentleman. "Then you will remember
our interview, some months ago, when I came to see you in the Square
Lamartine and asked you to intercede in Gilbert's favour. I said to you
that day, 'Lay down your arms, save Gilbert and and I will leave you in
peace. If not, I shall take the list of the Twenty-seven from you; and
then you're done for.' Well, I have a strong suspicion that done for is
what you are. That comes of not making terms with kind M. Lupin. Sooner
or later, you're bound to lose your boots by it. However, let it be a
lesson to you.
By the way, here's your pocketbook which I forgot to give you. Excuse
me if you find it lightened of its contents. There were not only a
decent number of bank-notes in it, but also the receipt from the
warehouse where you stored the Enghien things which you took back from
me. I thought I might as well save you the trouble of taking them out
yourself. It ought to be done by now. No, don't thank me: it's not
worth mentioning. Good-bye, Daubrecq. And, if you should want a louis
or two, to buy yourself a new decanter-stopper, drop me a line.
Good-bye, Daubrecq."
He walked away.
He had not gone fifty steps when he heard the sound of a shot.
He turned round.
Daubrecq had blown his brains out.
"De profundist" murmured Lupin, taking off his hat.
Two months later, Gilbert, whose sentence had been commuted to one of
penal servitude for life, made his escape from the Ile de Re, on the
day before that on which he was to have been transported to New
Caledonia.
It was a strange escape. Its least details remained difficult to
understand; and, like the two shots on the Boulevard Arago, it greatly
enhanced Arsene Lupin's prestige.
"Taken all round," said Lupin to me, one day, after telling me the
different episodes of the story, "taken all around, no enterprise has
ever given me more trouble or cost me greater exertions than that
confounded adventure which, if you don't mind, we will call, The Crystal
Stopper; or, Never Say Die. In twelve hours, between six o'clock in the
morning and six o'clock in the evening, I made up for six months of bad
luck, blunders, gropings in the dark and reverses. I certainly count
those twelve hours among the finest and the most glorious of my life."
"And Gilbert?" I asked. "What became of him?"
"He is farming his own land, way down in Algeria, under his real name,
his only name of Antoine Mergy. He is married to an Englishwoman, and
they have a son whom he insisted on calling Arsene. I often receive a
bright, chatty, warm-hearted letter from him."
"And Mme. Mergy?"
"She and her little Jacques are living with them."
"Did you see her again?"
"I did not."
"Really!"
Lupin hesitated for a few moments and then said with a smile:
"My dear fellow, I will let you into a secret that will make me seem
ridiculous in your eyes. But you know that I have always been as
sentimental as a schoolboy and as silly as a goose. Well, on the
evening when I went back to Clarisse Mergy and told her the news of the
day - part of which, for that matter, she already knew - I felt two
things very thoroughly. One was that I entertained for her a much
deeper feeling than I thought; the other that she, on the contrary,
entertained for me a feeling which was not without contempt, not without
a rankling grudge nor even a certain aversion."
"Nonsense! Why?"
"Why? Because Clarisse Mergy is an exceedingly honest woman and because
I am... just Arsene Lupin."
"Oh!"
"Dear me, yes, an attractivebandit, a romantic and chivalrous cracksman,
anything you please. For all that, in the eyes of a really honest woman,
with an upright nature and a well-balanced mind, I am only only the
merest riff-raff."
I saw that the wound was sharper than he was willing to admit, and I said:
"So you really loved her?"
"I even believe," he said, in a jesting tone, "that I asked her to marry
me. After all, I had saved her son, had I not?... So... I thought.
What a rebuff!... It produced a coolness between us... Since then... "
"You have forgotten her?"
"Oh, certainly! But it required the consolations of one Italian, two
Americans, three Russians, a German grand-duchess and a Chinawoman to
do it!"
"And, after that... ?"
"After that, so as to place an insuperable barrier between myself and
her, I got married."
"Nonsense! You got married, you, Arsene Lupin?"
"Married, wedded, spliced, in the most lawful fashion. One of the
greatest names in France. An only daughter. A colossal fortune... What!
You don't know the story? Well, it's worth hearing."
And, straightway, Lupin, who was in a confidential vein, began to tell
me the story of his marriage to Angelique de Sarzeau-Vendome, Princesse
de Bourbon-Conde, to-day Sister Marie-Auguste, a humble nun in the
Visitation Convent... *
________________________________________________________________________
*See The Confessions of Arsene Lupin By Maurice Leblanc Translated by
Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
________________________________________________________________________
But, after the first few words, he stopped, as though his narrative had
suddenly ceased to interest him, and he remained pensive.
"What's the matter, Lupin?"
"The matter? Nothing."
"Yes, yes. ... There... now you're smiling... Is it Daubrecq's secret
receptacle, his glass eye, that's making you laugh?"
"Not at all."
"What then?"
"Nothing, I tell you . . only a memory."
"A pleasant memory?"
"Yes!... Yes, a delightful memory even. It was at night, off the Ile de
Re, on the fishingsmack in which Clarisse and I were taking Gilbert away.
... We were alone, the two of us, m the stern of the boat... And I remember
... I talked... I spoke words and more words... I said all that I had on
my heart... And then...then came silence, a perturbing and disarming
silence. '
"Well?"
"Well, I swear to you that the woman whom I took in my arms that night
and kissed on the lips - oh, not for long: a few seconds only, but no
matter! - I swear before heaven that she was something more than a
grateful mother, something more than a friend yielding to a moment of
susceptibility, that she was a woman also, a woman quivering with emotion
... " And he continued, with a bitter laugh, "Who ran away next day,
never to see me again."
He was silent once more. Then he whispered:
"Clarisse... Clarisse... On the day when I am tired and disappointed and
weary of life, I will come to you down there, in your little Arab house
... in that little white house, Clarisse, where you are waiting for me...
End
"Dear me!" said the ex-deputy. "And why?"
The two men moved away.
Daubrecq had not uttered a word and stood motionless, as though rooted
to the ground.
The old gentleman went up to him and whispered:
"I say, Daubrecq, wake up, old chap... It's the chloroform, I expect... "
Daubrecq clenched his fists and gave a muttered growl.
"Ah, I see you know me!" said the old gentleman. "Then you will remember
our interview, some months ago, when I came to see you in the Square
Lamartine and asked you to intercede in Gilbert's favour. I said to you
that day, 'Lay down your arms, save Gilbert and and I will leave you in
peace. If not, I shall take the list of the Twenty-seven from you; and
then you're done for.' Well, I have a strong suspicion that done for is
what you are. That comes of not making terms with kind M. Lupin. Sooner
or later, you're bound to lose your boots by it. However, let it be a
lesson to you.
By the way, here's your pocketbook which I forgot to give you. Excuse
me if you find it lightened of its contents. There were not only a
decent number of bank-notes in it, but also the receipt from the
warehouse where you stored the Enghien things which you took back from
me. I thought I might as well save you the trouble of taking them out
yourself. It ought to be done by now. No, don't thank me: it's not
worth mentioning. Good-bye, Daubrecq. And, if you should want a louis
or two, to buy yourself a new decanter-stopper, drop me a line.
Good-bye, Daubrecq."
He walked away.
He had not gone fifty steps when he heard the sound of a shot.
He turned round.
Daubrecq had blown his brains out.
"De profundist" murmured Lupin, taking off his hat.
Two months later, Gilbert, whose sentence had been commuted to one of
penal servitude for life, made his escape from the Ile de Re, on the
day before that on which he was to have been transported to New
Caledonia.
It was a strange escape. Its least details remained difficult to
understand; and, like the two shots on the Boulevard Arago, it greatly
enhanced Arsene Lupin's prestige.
"Taken all round," said Lupin to me, one day, after telling me the
different episodes of the story, "taken all around, no enterprise has
ever given me more trouble or cost me greater exertions than that
confounded adventure which, if you don't mind, we will call, The Crystal
Stopper; or, Never Say Die. In twelve hours, between six o'clock in the
morning and six o'clock in the evening, I made up for six months of bad
luck, blunders, gropings in the dark and reverses. I certainly count
those twelve hours among the finest and the most glorious of my life."
"And Gilbert?" I asked. "What became of him?"
"He is farming his own land, way down in Algeria, under his real name,
his only name of Antoine Mergy. He is married to an Englishwoman, and
they have a son whom he insisted on calling Arsene. I often receive a
bright, chatty, warm-hearted letter from him."
"And Mme. Mergy?"
"She and her little Jacques are living with them."
"Did you see her again?"
"I did not."
"Really!"
Lupin hesitated for a few moments and then said with a smile:
"My dear fellow, I will let you into a secret that will make me seem
ridiculous in your eyes. But you know that I have always been as
sentimental as a schoolboy and as silly as a goose. Well, on the
evening when I went back to Clarisse Mergy and told her the news of the
day - part of which, for that matter, she already knew - I felt two
things very thoroughly. One was that I entertained for her a much
deeper feeling than I thought; the other that she, on the contrary,
entertained for me a feeling which was not without contempt, not without
a rankling grudge nor even a certain aversion."
"Nonsense! Why?"
"Why? Because Clarisse Mergy is an exceedingly honest woman and because
I am... just Arsene Lupin."
"Oh!"
"Dear me, yes, an attractivebandit, a romantic and chivalrous cracksman,
anything you please. For all that, in the eyes of a really honest woman,
with an upright nature and a well-balanced mind, I am only only the
merest riff-raff."
I saw that the wound was sharper than he was willing to admit, and I said:
"So you really loved her?"
"I even believe," he said, in a jesting tone, "that I asked her to marry
me. After all, I had saved her son, had I not?... So... I thought.
What a rebuff!... It produced a coolness between us... Since then... "
"You have forgotten her?"
"Oh, certainly! But it required the consolations of one Italian, two
Americans, three Russians, a German grand-duchess and a Chinawoman to
do it!"
"And, after that... ?"
"After that, so as to place an insuperable barrier between myself and
her, I got married."
"Nonsense! You got married, you, Arsene Lupin?"
"Married, wedded, spliced, in the most lawful fashion. One of the
greatest names in France. An only daughter. A colossal fortune... What!
You don't know the story? Well, it's worth hearing."
And, straightway, Lupin, who was in a confidential vein, began to tell
me the story of his marriage to Angelique de Sarzeau-Vendome, Princesse
de Bourbon-Conde, to-day Sister Marie-Auguste, a humble nun in the
Visitation Convent... *
________________________________________________________________________
*See The Confessions of Arsene Lupin By Maurice Leblanc Translated by
Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
________________________________________________________________________
But, after the first few words, he stopped, as though his narrative had
suddenly ceased to interest him, and he remained pensive.
"What's the matter, Lupin?"
"The matter? Nothing."
"Yes, yes. ... There... now you're smiling... Is it Daubrecq's secret
receptacle, his glass eye, that's making you laugh?"
"Not at all."
"What then?"
"Nothing, I tell you . . only a memory."
"A pleasant memory?"
"Yes!... Yes, a delightful memory even. It was at night, off the Ile de
Re, on the fishingsmack in which Clarisse and I were taking Gilbert away.
... We were alone, the two of us, m the stern of the boat... And I remember
... I talked... I spoke words and more words... I said all that I had on
my heart... And then...then came silence, a perturbing and disarming
silence. '
"Well?"
"Well, I swear to you that the woman whom I took in my arms that night
and kissed on the lips - oh, not for long: a few seconds only, but no
matter! - I swear before heaven that she was something more than a
grateful mother, something more than a friend yielding to a moment of
susceptibility, that she was a woman also, a woman quivering with emotion
... " And he continued, with a bitter laugh, "Who ran away next day,
never to see me again."
He was silent once more. Then he whispered:
"Clarisse... Clarisse... On the day when I am tired and disappointed and
weary of life, I will come to you down there, in your little Arab house
... in that little white house, Clarisse, where you are waiting for me...
End
- interview [´intəvju:]
n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词) - suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)
- contents [´kɔ:ntents] n.容纳物；要旨 (初中英语单词)
- receipt [ri´si:t] n.收到；收据 (初中英语单词)
- sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)
- enterprise [´entəpraiz] n.企业；雄心；胆识 (初中英语单词)
- glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
- thoroughly [´θʌrəli] ad.完全地，彻底地 (初中英语单词)
- attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)
- romantic [rəu´mæntik] a.传奇(式)的；浪漫的 (初中英语单词)
- willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
- italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)
- humble [´hʌmbəl] a.谦卑的 vt.贬抑 (初中英语单词)
- delightful [di´laitful] a.讨人喜欢的 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- motionless [´məuʃənləs] a.静止的；固定的 (高中英语单词)
- contempt [kən´tempt] n.轻蔑；受辱；不顾 (高中英语单词)
- grudge [grʌdʒ] vt.&n.吝啬；怨恨 (高中英语单词)
- exceedingly [ik´si:diŋli] ad.非常地，极度地 (高中英语单词)
- upright [´ʌprait] a.直立的 ad.直立地 (高中英语单词)
- barrier [´bæriə] n.栅栏；屏障；障碍 (高中英语单词)
- straightway [´streitwei] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)
- convent [´kɔnvənt] n.女修道院；女修道会 (高中英语单词)
- narrative [´nærətiv] a.叙述的 n.记事 (高中英语单词)
- bandit [´bændit] n.土匪，强盗 (英语四级单词)
- wedded [´wedid] a.(已)结婚的；献身的 (英语四级单词)
- lawful [´lɔ:fəl] a.合法的，守法的 (英语四级单词)
- colossal [kə´lɔsəl] a.庞大的；异常的 (英语四级单词)
- confidential [,kɔnfi´denʃəl] a.极受信任的；心腹的 (英语四级单词)
- pocketbook [´pɔkitbuk] n.袖珍本；皮夹子；财力 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- servitude [´sə:vitju:d] n.奴隶状态；苦役 (英语六级单词)
- boulevard [´bu:ləvɑ:d] n.林荫大道 (英语六级单词)
- calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)
- chivalrous [´ʃivəlrəs] a.勇武的；武士的 (英语六级单词)
- coolness [´ku:lnis] n.凉，凉爽；冷静 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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